Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 54 Article 31 2000 Winter Breeding as a Common Occurrence in the Ringed Salamander, Ambystoma annulatum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), in the Ozark National Forest of Northcentral Arkansas Stanley E. Trauth Arkansas State University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas Part of the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Trauth, Stanley E. (2000) "Winter Breeding as a Common Occurrence in the Ringed Salamander, Ambystoma annulatum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), in the Ozark National Forest of Northcentral Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 54 , Article 31. Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol54/iss1/31 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 54 [2000], Art. 31 Winter Breeding as a Common Occurrence in the Ringed Salamander, Ambystoma annulatum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), in the Ozark National Forest of Northcentral Arkansas Stanley E. Trauth Department of Biological Sciences Arkansas State University, State University, AR 72467 The ringed salamander, Ambystoma annulatum, is a was completely dry on 17 February 2000 as a result of a long, slender ambystomatid salamander that is endemic to fall/winter drought (total precipitation during the preced- the Interior Highland ecoregion of Arkansas, Missouri, ing months of October, November, December, and and Oklahoma (Anderson, 1965; Petranka, 1998). The January = 5.1, 3.1, 11.1, and 4.3 cm, respectively) and was reproductive biology of this species has been studied rela- nearly dry again on 17 March 2000 (February precipitation tively well within Missouri and Arkansas (Noble and =6.4 cm at the precipitation recording station inMountain Marshall, 1929; Trapp, 1956, 1959; Spotila and Beumer, View, Arkansas). While returning the ringed salamanders 1970; McDaniel and Saugey, 1977; Brussock and Brown, communally in a chilled, plastic, water-filled container to 1982; Hutcherson et al., 1989; Nyman et al., 1993; Briggler the herpetology lab at Arkansas State University (on the et al., 1999). By all of these accounts, breeding migrations 26 tn ),most females began laying eggs. Egglaying contin- to ponds typically coincide with heavy autumnal rains ued for three days in a refrigerator and produced a com- which usually begin in late September; breeding activity bined total of 3,285 eggs which averaged 205.3 eggs per normally ceases by mid November. The only confirmed female. Females- averaged 89.6 mm in snout-vent length exception to autumnal breeding in A. annulatum was (range, 80 98). reported by Trauth et al. (1989) from the Sylamore Ranger The possibility exists that these ringed salamanders District (SRD) of the Ozark National Forest (Baxter were stimulated by local rainfall to migrate to breeding County) of northcentral Arkansas; the first observation of ponds that had previously been dry as a consequence of this behavior occurred on 14 February 1987. During the the lack of adequate rainfall during the normal breeding intervening years since the initial winter breeding observa- cycle the preceding fall. This hypothesis was rejected by tion,my colleagues and Ihave observed additional records Trauth et al. (1989) as providing the breeding stimulus for of winter breeding activity in A. annulatum from the same the first observation; they based their judgment on the geographic region. In the following, Ireport on the most occurrence of sufficient rainfall to fillponds during the recent occurrence of this phenomenon in this species and fall/winter months of 1986-1987. Thus, the present ringed summarize other instances regarding winter breeding salamanders as well as the ones of the initial discovery observed over a span of 14 years. were not likely holdovers from the fallbreeding cycle. Incontrast to the initial winterbreeding site (Trauth et Atpresent, five instances of winterbreeding have been al., 1989) which was a remarkably small, ephemeral pool observed during February in the SRD. These data suggest (dimensions of around 3.5 m X 4.0 m; the depth was ca. that winter mating and egglaying may actually be a com- 0.5 m), the temporary woodland pond from which the mon phenomenon inringed salamanders. Atthe present, most recent specimens were taken (see Trauth et al., 2000) however, it remains unclear as to why A. annulatum fre- is much larger (dimensions around 30 m X 40 m; maxi- quently breed during the winter in the SRD as wellas why mum depth =0.35 m). Its location is withinStone County this observation has not been reported in other geograph- of the SRD. Since the 1987 observation, eight visits during ic areas in the Interior Highlands. the month of February to additional ponds and flooded woodland depressions within the SRD have yielded breed- ing ringed salamanders in four more years (1988, 1991, Literature Cited 1998, and 2000). Three of these observations were from the location described above. The most recent breeding Anderson, J. D. 1965. Ambystoma annulatum. Cat. Amer. incident (26 February 2000) occurred following moderate Amphib. Rept. 19.1-19.2. rainfall on the 25th and 26th of February. A total of 17 Briggler, J. T., J. E.Johnson, and D.D.Rambo. 1999. adults (1 male; 16 females) was collected; the breeding site Demographics of a ringed salamander {Ambystoma is also utilized, concurrently, by a number of other annulatum) breeding population during migration. amphibian species (i.e., wood frogs -Rana sylvatica, spring Arkansas Acad. Sci. 1999 (abst). peepers —Pseudacris crucifer, and spotted salamanders- Brussock, P. P., Ill,and A. V.Brown. 1982. Selection Ambystoma maculatum). Surprisingly, this woodland pond of breeding ponds by the ringed salamander, Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 54, 2000 157 Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 2000 157 Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 54 [2000], Art. 31 Ambystomatiaae), in the Ozark National rorest of JNorthcentral Arkansas i Ambystoma annulatum. Proc. Arkansas Acad. Sci. 36:82-83. Hutcherson, J. E., C. L.Peterson, and R. F. Wilkinson. 1989. Reproductive and larval biology of Ambystoma annulatum. J. Herpetol. 23:181-183. McDaniel, V. R., and D. A. Saugey. 1977. Geographic distribution. Ambystoma annulatum (ringed salaman- der). Herpetol. Rev. 8:38. Noble, G. K., and B. C. Marshall. 1929. The breeding habits of two salamanders. Amer. Mus. Novitates 347:1-12. Nyman, S., R. F. Wilkinson, and J. E. Hutcherson. 1993. Cannibalism and size relations in a cohort of larval ringed salamanders {Ambystoma annulatum). J. Herpetol. 27:78-84. Petranka, J. W. 1998. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 587 pp. Spotila, J. R., and R. J. Beumer. 1970. The breeding habits of the ringed salamander, Ambystoma annulatum (Cope), in northwestern Arkansas. Amer. Midi.Nat. 84:77-89. Trapp, M. M. 1956. Range and natural history of the ringed salamander, Ambystoma annulatum Cope (Ambystomatidae). Southwest. Nat.1:78-82. Trapp, M.M.1959. Studies ofthe lifehistory ofAmbystoma annulatum (Cope). Unpubl. M. S. Thesis. Univ. Arkansas, Fayetteville. 36 pp. Trauth, S. E., M. E. Cartwright, and W. E. Meshaka. 1989. Winter breeding in the ringed salamander, Ambystoma annulatum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), from Arkansas. Southwest. Nat. 34:145-146. Trauth, S. E., M.L.McCallum, and M.E. Cartwright 2000. Breeding mortality in the wood frog, Rana syl- vatica (Anura: Ranidae), from northcentral Arkansas. J. Arkansas Acad. Sci. 54:(in press). Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 54, 2000 158 http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol54/iss1/31 158.